I.


At the present time, everything bearing upon the history of the American
civil war has special interest. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed
since the struggle began, and during the interval asperities have died
away and peace and harmony hover over a united people.

During the war and in the years immediately following its cessation, a
number of soldiers and civilians wrote histories, on the Union side,
some of these being careful and exhaustive studies of limited fields of
action, and others of the entire field of operations. It necessarily
happened, however, that, owing to misconceptions arising from their
opposite points of view, their lack of personal knowledge, and the
absence of authentic documentary evidence, these writers were not always
able to penetrate the plans and purposes of the Confederate leaders, or
even to describe with entire accuracy the part borne by the Confederate
troops in particular engagements.

As time goes on, the deficiency is being met, and the memoirs of those
Confederate soldiers and civilians who bore a prominent part in the
struggle, either in the field or the council chamber, and who had a full
knowledge of the facts, are fast coming to light, and are perused with
more than common interest by military actors and students. The true and
exhaustive history of the civil war cannot be written until all the
facts shall have been made known. Even then, the reader must always bear
in mind who states the facts, and also that the truth is oftener found
in the memoir of some gallant and straightforward soldier than in that